Discovery
by kayleigh-amandamealing.co.uk
Summary: Theres been a murder, but who is dead and who did it?
1. Default Chapter

**Part One**

Two voices. Two figures. One scream. One body.

Footsteps echoed around as one figure departed the area rapidly, heavy breaths reverberated around the corridor as the shadow retreated away from the scene into the bright, staring lights of the ward.

Back in the darkened theatre, glimpses of light flashed around the room as the doors still swung open and closed, open and closed slowly.

She lay face down on the floor, her eyes wide in amazement but her body relaxed. Her hair lying softly on her neck. From the side she didn't look dead.

"Rigor mortis has set in. She's been here a few hours. How did no-one notice she was missing, it's not like she was just a face in the crowd?"

Detective Inspector Clark Fitzwilliam stepped carefully around the body. A stunning young woman lay dead on the cold floor of her own operating theatre. Her reign over the department well and truly concluded. Bending down to rest on his feet he looked closely at her face. A smile hinted on her lips but her deep green eyes were wide with fear. He shook his head sorrowfully and stood back upright.

"Always the pretty ones" he shrugged, walking back towards the door. "I trust you've sealed off the ward to the public, no-one in or out. Mind you, it's got to be someone working here, not like you can just walk into an operating theatre aimlessly, can you?"

He nodded at the Scene of Crime Officer walking through the doors towards the ward. Before his question could be answered his phone rang. He ducked quickly under the police tape emblazoned across the doors to the theatre and pressed the 'send' button.

"Fitzwilliam" he barked into the phone. "Ah I see, thanks for letting me know."

Walking back into the theatre he motioned to his second in command, a petite brunette, Lois McCall. The Lois Lane to his Clark Kent he liked to joke. Backing away from the body she walked over to him, an expectant look replacing her frown as she tore her gaze away from the dead woman.

"As if murder wasn't bad enough. You'll never guess who her husband is…" he trailed off, raising an eyebrow provocatively towards his colleague.

Her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened. "Not…? I thought I'd seen her somewhere."

"Oh yes. So I want everything done by the book, down to the last full stop and the last… well everything. No problems, no inefficiency. I want him…"

"Or her." Lois interrupted quickly.

"Or her" Clark corrected. "I want whoever it was caught soon as. This is not a case I want to become a sticker. This is all we need." He rubbed his forehead with the base of his palm, kneading the frown lines into obscurity. He stuffed his hands back into the pockets of his trousers and walked back over to the body. He felt so disrespectful calling her 'the body' but until they got a definite positive identification from someone they couldn't give her an identity.

Clark heard a new voice behind him, speaking to one of the uniformed officers on the door. He turned around to see a young woman in a nurse's tunic standing talking to DC Kadie Johansen, one of his team, and another young officer he didn't recognise, with some urgency. Moments later Kadie approached Clark and Lois and explained that the nurse had taken a phone call asking if the supposed victim had left work.

Clark walked over to where the young nurse stood and gestured to her to step out of the crime scene.

"Can we have a quick word with you Miss…?" he paused, waiting for the pretty blonde to supply him with her name.

"Holroyd" she said quietly, "Georgina Holroyd."

"Miss Holroyd" Clark finished.

She nodded slowly, unsure of whether she wanted to be dragged into another murder enquiry. She remembered warily the last time the police were called to a major incident, during the spree of murders on the ward by Kelly Yorke. But this was different. This was personal. She moved further away from the door, guided by the policeman who had yet to introduce himself to her. Over his shoulder she peered into the dimly lit room, lit only by the systematic flash of a camera, presumably capturing the images of the victim.

"So tell me about the phone call." Clark prompted her.

She averted her gaze from the theatre back onto the police officer in front of her. Shrugging her shoulders briefly she began to explain.

"I was working at the nurse's station, just filling in paperwork when the phone rang. He asked if his wife was still here as she hadn't arrived home, they had a dinner date at a friend's or something, he didn't go into details." She paused for breath, looking slightly puzzled. "I just said that her shift had finished early and that as far as I knew she'd gone home."

Clark fished a small, black, leather-bound notebook out of jacket pocket. He wrote down the brief details as she said.

"Ah what time was it you took the call?"

"Just now, say ten minutes ago. I just briefly checked the office and made sure she wasn't still working, and then came here to tell you."

"And you say that her shift finished early, what time was early?"

Nurse Holroyd shook her glossy blonde hair. "Well I only came in at around half past eleven this morning myself, my shift started at two but I had some paperwork I wanted to catch up on. As far as I gathered she wasn't here then, the other team was in; I did ward rounds with Mr Langworth at about half past eleven."

Clark nodded as he wrote down the series of events. "And you didn't tell the husband anything?"

Georgina shook her head again. "I didn't know what to tell him so I figured that nothing was best. Is it definitely her?" She glanced into the theatre again and tipped her head toward the door suggestively.

"I can't say for definite yet. But thank you for the information. Can you please ask everyone to remain on the ward until we've had a chance to speak to them properly and take statements? I understand there are officers there already but it's imperative we ascertain exactly what's gone on."

Clark nodded to the nurse as she assured him it would be done and then turned to go back onto the ward. He watched her smile flirtatiously at the officer on the door to the corridor then round the corner. He re-entered the theatre and walked over to where DS McCall stood, her eyes once again transfixed, watching the SOCO examining the scene.

Having worked with DS McCall for the previous five years he knew only too well of her fascination with crime scene investigation. He disturbed her focus and asked for a quick peek at her notes, knowing full well that they would be more organised and legible than his ever could be.

As he expected they were, of course. He scanned the notes, 'Encounter site, murder site and body dump site all appear to be the same, operating theatre 3, Auraton City Hospital' he carried on, reading details of the victim next, 'type of crime – unknown' she had written clearly.

He stared down at the body of the victim. Her clothes looked untouched aside from the deep maroon stain embedded into the fibres of her pristine white shirt. The colour was the only indicator of any interference. She had no visible wounds, but something had killed her.

Clark continued through the notes. 'Scene condition – organised'. He looked around. Lois was right, not a single thing was out of place, no evidence of a struggle, nothing to even indicate a murder had taken place. 'Well planned / Opportunistic?' was the next heading Lois had inscribed. As yet she hadn't filled in her thoughts.

Tapping Lois on the shoulder, Clark nodded towards the door, walking out of theatre and seating himself on a cold, plastic chair a few metres away. He handed Lois her book back and she quickly replaced it in her pocket and repositioned her hands, together in front of her, resting them on her knees.

"Good observations there Lois" Clark commented, "Quite the wannabe expert aren't you" he jested, smiling warmly at her. "What do you think about it, premeditated or opportunistic?" he enquired, valuing her opinion as though he hated to admit it, she had a strong tendency to be right in her instincts.

She pondered the question for a moment before composing her reply. "I think…" she paused deliberately. "I would imagine it to be opportunistic considering the location. However my gut feeling says intense premeditation."

She stopped again, looking up at her senior before continuing quietly. "Did you see her face? She was stunning, a real air of natural beauty but if you look closely she had blood all around her mouth, as if someone had made her drink something, or someone had cut the inside of her mouth. And because she has no obvious injuries, it's impossible to determine how she died just from observations."

Clark nodded in agreement. "The pathologist will determine cause of death. We should be able to get rid of the body shortly. SOCO have nearly finished so we can get her out and start finding out who did this and why."

Lois ran her hands through her short dark hair, not dissimilar to the victim's. "Will they do it here, or down at the police mortuary?"

Clark shrugged his broad shoulders. He looked back into the theatre where they were beginning to move the body.

"Bit close for comfort keeping her here don't you think?"

Lois nodded, unsure of her thoughts on the matter. In a way it would be fitting to have it done here, where she worked, but Clark made a valid point. She died here, would it be safe to keep the body in a place where the murderer could still get to her in theory.

"I just don't get who would want to kill her? I mean sure she had professional adversaries, but surely their disputes wouldn't be serious enough to result in cold-blooded murder?"

"You've just got to look at her though. She's beautiful, she's successful, and she's powerful. She's in charge. Who wouldn't want a piece of that?" Clark summarised thoughtfully. "Men want to have her, and women want to be her. I've seen her around, police balls, professional dinners, that type of deathly boring function. You couldn't help but notice her wherever she went. You could tell Michael hated it, he was intensely jealous. I guess someone needs to tell him."

"I'll do it if you like" Lois offered. "I can take Kadie with me she's had FLO training in the past, she'll do until we can sort out a permanent officer to do it won't she?"


	2. 2

Part Two

24 Hours Earlier

Connie Beauchamp strode into the operating theatre bang on time. She looked quickly around the table, taking in her assistants for the next few hours. Noticing a gaping hole directly across from her she commented on her registrar's tardiness.

"Well we cannot work without a full team, if Mr Curtis is not with us in 5 minutes call the…"

Her tirade was broken off by the sound of Will running into the theatre, heading straight for the scrub room and making a hasty start on sanitising himself ready for the operation.

"Ah, Mr Curtis, there you are. I'm so pleased you managed to join us today. Nice lie in was it?"

Will Curtis walked into the theatre sheepishly, battling with a pair of surgical gloves that his fingers appeared not to want to be in. He rushed around to the opposite side of the table to Connie and mumbled an apology.

Connie made the first incision into the young man's leg, in what was probably considered to be a vain and futile attempt at a miracle. This man was clearly in no fit state to be able to walk again for a very long time, if ever, but Connie Beauchamp felt it her obligation and duty to at least try and help. As she always did.

"So Will" she drawled, smiling broadly beneath her surgical mask as she teased him mercilessly. It was her way of passing the time during lengthy operations she knew weren't likely to have a positive outcome. "Which excuse will it be this time I wonder. Can't be the kids they should have been in bed hours ago, the wife as well. How about traffic?" she raised her eyebrow questioningly and let out a gentle laugh. "No, of course not" she shook her head. "Middle of the night isn't it, can't be that much on the roads at this time. So come on Will, astound me."

Will's face flushed a deep red as he carried on staring down at the open incision before him. "Stuff to do" he muttered into his surgical mask, his words barely audible between the monitors beeping furiously. "Not like I was an hour late, it was barely five minutes."

Connie shook her head once again in disbelief at her registrar's audacity. If she could make it on time, under no-one else's command, surely Will could find it within himself to watch out on his timekeeping.

"Right then, once we're done here I'll see you in my office straight away. I don't care if you've got somewhere else to be, this takes priority." The steely edge in her voice took no prisoners and Will knew that she meant business.

The theatre fell silent for the rest of the operation. The only words echoing around the theatre were requests for equipment and commands from Connie. Her authority over the staff was clear, even to the unfamiliar nurse who appeared half way through to ask if there was any news, as the relatives were becoming restless.

She was banished from the theatre with nothing more than a sharp "No" from Connie and a sympathetic smile from Will as she left. Then back to work without giving the poor girl a second's thought as she scurried sheepishly back to the ward to try and console the relatives.

When the operation was finished Connie showered and changed and headed back to her office. She had a few hours to type up her remaining paperwork then she was off-shift and the rest of the day was hers. She ran her hands through her hair and set about typing up the notes from the operation.

A sharp rap on the door awoken her from the trance she had slipped into whilst ploughing through the papers. She put her pen down and sat back in the chair, calling out for Will to enter the room.

"Connie, it was two a.m., I was five minutes late and I'm sorry. It won't happen again I promise."

His apologies were futile as Connie' face paled into her infamous stony glare. She looked at him, her gaze unfaltering for a few moments as she debated what her reply should be. She flashed him one of her dazzling smiles as she rose to her feet. She shut the door behind him and sat back down behind her desk. Will noticed how perfect everything was in her office. Her files in a perfect pile, pens in perfect order by the files, her perfect suit, perfect hair and perfect teeth as she smiled. Her whole life was so perfect. Apart from him.

"It's not good enough Will. It's just not good enough. That man could have lost his leg, or worst case scenario he could have died had you not been there."

"It wasn't that bad" Will countered. "It was just a case of starting a little late."

Connie scowled, shocked at his daring once again. She was his senior; he was not supposed to talk to her in that way.

"Get out!" she spat the words at him, her face set into a frown he hadn't witnessed before. This time, Will was certain, she meant business. He hung his head and apologised once again, walking out of her office without shutting the door behind him. Connie watched him round the corner and set off down the corridor, his shoulders low.

18 Hours Earlier

Lois sat in Clark's office, her feet flung across his desk and she browsed the web using his personal computer. He was out on a shout and had left her at the office to amuse herself until she was needed. It was a straightforward burglary and her presence was not required until Clark got back to the station to write up the details. Thus she was making herself comfortable whilst looking for her perfect holiday. She didn't get much time off from the service but when she did, she wanted to holiday in style. Her boyfriend wasn't serious enough to take away with her, that was providing they were even together four months down the line when she was due her annual leave.

She'd about decided on St. Lucia when Clark stormed back in. His face was stony as she'd ever seen it. She flicked her feet off of the desk and swivelled round in the chair to face him as he entered the room, slamming the door behind him. Lois muted the music blaring out of the speakers as Clark shot her a look.

"Waste of time and bloody police resources. They nicked her bloody pension book and an antique vase. She let the bastards in, they claimed to be salesmen."

He stalked around his office, flailing his arms from side to side for effect, his fingers splayed as he demonstrated his angst.

"I know it's not her fault but you'd have thought an elderly lady like that, especially because she's so bloody frail. Well you'd have thought she'd have been a bit more… oh I don't know. Vigilant? Security conscious? She was stupid. But of course I can't bloody say that can I? I have to be all nicey-nicey, all 'Oh yes Mrs Harper, yes we'll do our best to get your vase back… oh of course, great sentimental value'."

Lois sat and nodded respectfully, knowing better than to disagree with him or contradict his opinion when he was in a mood like this one. She avoided his gaze, preferring to look down at the floor, picking at the sleeves on her newly bought Ben Sherman shirt. Generally she stood up for herself and her morals, she thought that it was never the victims fault unless they were obvious asking for it, which this old lady wasn't. But she wasn't going to say that to Clark, she wasn't completely stupid.

As it happened, she was lucky and any further tirades from Clark were halted by the shrill ringing of the office phone. Clark flew across the room and snatched up the handset from its cradle seconds before Lois could reach over and pick it up.

"Fitzwilliam" he spat at the caller, his annoyance clearly not quite spent. He nodded silently into the phone as he took in what he was being told. A broad smile swept across his face as he replaced the handset and shoved his hands roughly into his pocket spinning around in a full 360 degree circle on the balls of his feet.

"Action stations Miss McCall. We've got a murder on our hands." He grinned despite the gravity of the situation, pleased to have what he considered to be 'proper policing to do' for once. 


	3. 3

Part Three

"D.I. Fitzwilliam. And you are?" He stared stonily at the young doctor facing him. His expression remained unchanged as he finished the question and waited for an answer. He raised an eyebrow quizzically when the question wasn't answered with the immediacy he was used to in the force. He heard a vague mumbled reply.

"You're going to have to speak up lad, if you're gonna get yourself off the hook with me." He quipped, the tone of his voice sounding much lighter than he intended. He was face to face with the man who, in his eyes, was their prime suspect for the murder of Connie Beauchamp.

"Will Curtis" the doctor replied, raising his head to make eye contact with the formidable inspector he had been previously dreading. He took in the greying hair, the hard eyes boring right back at him. He would rather be friends than enemies with this man, he made the snap decision. Standing up, he thrust his right hand forwards in a gesture of peace offering. Clark looked back dubiously before extending his own right hand and grasping Will's tightly. He wasn't prepared to be friendly yet so scaring him with the brute strength he had would have to suffice.

Clark retreated his hand and set back down, waiting for Will to take the hint and be seated also. Finally Will sat down opposite Clark, a young uniformed officer beside him to sit in on the informal interview.

"So" Clark drawled, the hints of his native Yorkshire dialect creeping into his voice, "You're boss-less. Must be nice… eh?"

Will shook his head briefly, "Not really, Mrs Beauchamp was a good boss most of the time, she did a lot for my career, it's a…" he searched for the most appropriate word, evidently not finding it as he carried on, "Well not a shame, but you know what I'm getting at. She didn't deserve to be killed like that."

Clark picked up on his somewhat inappropriate choice of phrasing. "Like that; like what exactly Dr Curtis?"

"It's Mr Curtis, I'm not known as 'Dr' since I qualified as a surgeon. I meant more that she didn't deserve to be murdered, rather than the exact way she died, I don't know exactly how she died." He fumbled with the cuffs of his jacket, tracing around the small gold cufflinks, engraved with his initials. "She was a good boss, she was fair and she never did anything but her best for the patients and the staff. She may have come across as a slave-driver and power-crazed but she never once while I worked with her, lost sight of why we do this job. It was all about the patients to Connie."

Clark noted the use of Connie's first name, Will's discomfort as he implied he was involved. It was obvious there was more than met the eye to Will and Connie's working relationship.

"How well did you know Mrs Beauchamp? I mean, outside the job. You friends?"

"I wouldn't say we were friends, nothing especially close, but I wouldn't have ignored her out of work. We didn't make an effort to socialise particularly, but inevitably we went to some of the same functions. I'm not big on social events but the ward Christmas party we both attended, a colleagues 50th birthday party recently, we were both at. Nothing out of the ordinary."

He finished his speech and took a deep gulp of air. Clark noted the two parties down in his notebook. Do you have dates for the two events you mentioned, I'd like to check everything out, just so I can be sure I haven't missed anything crucial, even the tiniest detail might help up catch whoever did this to your boss."

Will stuttered, casting his eyes to the ceiling of the staffroom the police were using to speak to each member of the ward staff. Splaying his hands, he shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Christmas party was the weekend before Christmas last year, I'd have to check for the exact date but it was the Tuesday night, the whole ward tends to work the same shifts usually so we had it when we were all free which is usually a Tuesday night. From memory it was the 22nd of December I think. And Ric's party was mid-September, again I'd have to check the exact date, I'm no good with birthdays. It wasn't a big event, just the people he works with mainly. Again from memory it was a Tuesday night, possibly the second Tuesday of the month. Its six months ago now and it didn't seem like a big deal at the time, I can't remember the exact date."

Clark nodded and jotted down the vague dates Will had given him, making a note to get either Kadie or Lois to check them out with the other members of staff and with Connie' diary from last year.

"Your wife go with you did she?" he asked nonchalantly, not expecting the answer he got.

"No. She doesn't… didn't like Connie much. She thought Connie worked me too hard and never let me have time to myself. It's hard with me coming from the army when she only ever saw me for a few weeks a year but when she had me home, I was there constantly. To go to being at home permanently but usually on-call or on the ward was difficult. I think she expected to see me a lot more than she does. She resented my job and everything which came with it, including Connie, purely because Connie sees… Saw more of me than she did."

Clark nodded, suppressing a knowing laugh. "Nothing like wedded bliss eh? Know how you feel, got a wife like that at home myself. She's not too bothered about me working with Lois though. You ever give the wife something to worry about?"

Will blushed. "No of course not!" he lied, the flush of his cheeks telling an entirely different tale to his words.

"This is a murder investigation Mr Curtis; I shouldn't have to remind you of that. We need to know if there have been problems, if only to eliminate you from our enquiries. We can't have skeletons in closets only for them to topple out and make you look like a murderer." Clark chuckled a moment at his own joke and then set his face back into professional mode, his face now unsmiling and serious.

"I know, I know." Will replied, exasperated and reluctant to tell the inspector about his brief dalliance with his boss, his very married boss. He widened his eyes as he began to speak, his voice hushed as he did so.

"This won't… well you won't spread this will you? No of course not, you're a police officer. And this is confidential yes?" he looked at the officer next to him for reassurance before carrying on with his confession. "We, well nothing happened really…" he emphasised the final word, stressing it to Clark.

"It was at Ric's 50th birthday party, I mentioned it earlier." He paused to run his fingers through his short brown hair. "We had a bit to drink, we we'd had a good day at work, saved a patient we didn't think we could, it was a bit of a celebration. SO yeah, we shared a bottle or two, got a bit close. But nothing more happened. We kissed; she didn't want to take it any further so that was that."

Clark noted it all down, the look of annoyance on Will's face; he would have put money on the fact that Will wasn't happy with her upping and leaving him after being so intimate. He was in love with her and she didn't know it.

"You were in love with her weren't you Mr Curtis?" he said quietly, looking up at Will but not moving his head from the downward gaze. He saw Will's jaw drop before he could regain his composure.

"I… err. No, of course not. I'm married. We just had too much to drink." But again, his blush gave the game away.

"Thank you Mr Curtis, that's all for now. But don't go leaving the country. We might think you've got something to hide." Clark added snidely, standing up and opening the door for Will to leave.

As he watched Will's back down the corridor towards the men's locker room he turned to the officer still in the room and smiled.

"Motive the size of a house brick." 


	4. 4

Part Four

Ric Griffin walked into the staff room. He went straight over to Clark and stuck his hand out in front of him. His jovial smile preceded him and Clark was immediately put at ease. Standing up Clark took Ric's hand and Shook it warmly. He indicated the seat on the opposite side of the table. He laid out his notes in front of him and smiled over at Ric.

"Mr Griffin, sorry for taking up your time, I know you're a busy man."

"Honestly, glad to help. Theatre lists can wait." Suddenly he looked sorrowful, his smile disappearing as he said "No Connie to complain any more is there?" He gave Clark a rueful smile before shrugging briefly. "But still life goes on I guess, much quieter already."

Clark nodded, silently agreeing with his comments. "SO you and Mrs Beauchamp got on well?"

"I wouldn't say that, we had our differences, but nothing major. We argued over beds, over patients on my ward who should have been on hers, we disagreed over the working time directive, we bickered like children. But it was superficial; there was never any real dislike or anything. I liked her. She was a good medical director, almost as good as the best." He broke his tirade with a snigger and a self-depreciating smile. "She took over from me y'see. And she was welcome to it. I hate paperwork. Guess that's something you would understand inspector?"

Clark smiled, feeling good about the interview, Ric was giving him all the information he needed and he'd hardly had to say a word. If only all witnesses were as forthcoming as Ric was, his job would be a breeze and there'd be so much of his dreaded paperwork.

"You said it, piles of the stuff. Takes me an age to get it done before I can even think of catching criminals. Absolute nightmare!" he concluded, returning Ric's smile. "So no recent disagreements between you and Mrs Beauchamp?"

Ric shook his head, twisting his face into what he hoped was an innocent, questioning look. Raising his eyebrows he began to speak again. "Not that I can recall, nothing stands out. We had words about a nurse who she wanted to mentor but who wasn't up to it. She's blinkered when she gets an idea in her head so we gave up in the end. She couldn't understand why Will and I didn't want Mickie cluttering up the wards, but she was adamant. Mickie was going to shadow her. Today in fact."

Clark flashed a look at Lois who had joined him for the interview. Reading his look she wrote down the name and rested forwards on her elbows towards Ric. "She got a surname?"

Ric turned around; startled by the newcomer he hadn't registered entering the room. He wrung his hands, "Um yeah I guess so, not sure what it is though, I've not had much to do with her to be honest. Will should know; he's spoken to her about it."

Clark nodded to Lois and carried on, his questions mirroring those he asked to Will just minutes earlier. "Were you and Mrs Beauchamp friends out of work?"

"Friends…" he smiled knowingly, his face glazing over. "Yeah we had our moments." He grinned coyly and looked down at his hands.

Clark looked over at Lois and saw her already scribbling down the word 'motive'. He looked back At Ric. "Moments?" he raised an eyebrow and curled his lip slightly.

"Well, more of a moment really. When she first joined we got close, but not since then and it was only the once. Not for the want of trying" he laughed softly again. "But we had a kind of understanding after that, we didn't clash as much again."

"But you were friends to the point where you invited her to your birthday party?"

"More of an open invite really, Juliet and Harper wards were invited plus friends. And of course it was my daughter's flat so her friends were there too."

"And you were annoyed when she went off with her registrar rather than you, the birthday boy." His questioning was becoming more forceful as he moved Ric further up his suspect list.

"Will?" he exclaimed incredulously. "Connie and Will? God." He shook his head in disbelief. "Well that's a turn up for the books, and all along I thought she genuinely hated him. Turns out she just wanted to get in his pants." He laughed heartily, rubbing the back of his neck in surprise. "Well, well, well…" he trailed off.

Clark snuck a sideways glance at Lois, unsure of whether he should have mentioned Connie and Will's close encounter; she smiled reassuringly at him, urging him on with the burning in her eyes. She nudged her shoulder towards him and tilted her head back at Ric. Taking over the questioning she looked back to Ric and flashed him her most dazzling smile, her eyes sparkling. It evidently caught Ric's attention as he shifted his whole body position around to her and smiled back at her, leaning in close to her.

"Were you in love with Connie Beauchamp?" she hit him hard, her smile not changing as she watched his eyes widen and his mouth open and close.

"No, I wasn't. Lust maybe; not love. I'm old enough not to make that mistake again; I'm not stupid, Detective Sergeant."

"Fair comment, but am I right in saying you wouldn't have turned her down if she offered it again?"

Ric shrugged, "She was a pretty lady, I'd be mad to say no."

Lois smiled and turned back to Clark, nodding she started to write notes on the open page of her notebook. A minute passed and she looked up at Ric. "That's all Mr Griffin, feel free to go. But don't leave the country; nothing gives away a guilty conscience like a vanishing act does."

As Ric stood up and thanked the officers, he smiled and straightened his tie. "Connie never liked it straight." 


End file.
